This morning we awoke ready for a new day. We headed down for breakfast only to discover no one in the reception area or in the dining room. Since we had brought the computer down with us (this is the only area where the wireless signal is strong enough to be useful) so we worked on the emails and uploaded yesterday’s blog. We had finished all that when someone came in to serve the breakfast. I should mention that breakfast in Greece is not common and what we get is coffee or tea, orange juice, bread with jam and butter. This is fine for us but for many it would be a bit scant.
After breakfast we headed off to the town square and on the way stopped to check out the cost of renting cars. We have learned that on this island there are set prices for everything and that is what you pay regardless which shop you stop. Not a problem we learned that a scooter costs 15 Euro, Quads 20 Euro, Standard cars 25 Euro and Automatic cars 30 Euro. I tried to convince Wes that a scooter would be so much fun and he was not interested. The quad also could be fun, but it is still a bit cold so we nixed that. We did decide to rent a car for tomorrow to tour the island. For today we are off on a tour of Volcano Island, the Caldera and the Hot Springs.
We started to walk down the 300 meters to the old port when we met 3 girls from Australia also on their way down. We had a great time chatting with them since they have been traveling for about one year now and are getting home in about 6 weeks. What was really interesting is that they spend the most of this year away in Canada by landing on the east coast and traveling across to Vancouver Island where they spent the winter months. They shared a lot of stories with us about their travels in Canada and the interesting camper van they ‘rented’ to drive across Canada with and we shared our stories about our travels in Australia. In particular two of the girls were from Tasmania so were really interested in our comments about that island. They had taken the overnight ferry from Athens so had not had any sleep since yesterday and were going on the same tour we were on. Very interesting for sure.
We arrived with plenty of time for the tour boat so we were able to visit and chat even more. When it was time to board the boat I discovered another couple I had talked to yesterday also on this tour. They are from India and speak excellent English. They had decided to rent a Quad and he had never driven one before so was very excited about doing so on this trip.
As we sailed across the caldera towards Volcano Island, which is in the middle and is a pile of lava rock creating the island, we all commented on how blue and clear the water. I had plenty of time to look around and take pictures of the towns which seem to be clinging to the top of the cliffs in every direction we looked. I am amazed how the buildings seem to fill the horizon and then spill over the cliff edge downward.
The Volcano Island is another story. This island really was formed by the volcano lava flows and the volcano crater. There is virtually no vegetation on the island and the pathways lead up to the top and around the top to give spectacular views in 360 degrees. What there is for vegetation is a ground cover plant that has a small red coloring to it. The rock is primarily black lava colored and with the blue water and red hue to the ground it was a contrast in coloring that was incredible.
As we walked up the path I chatted with the couple form India while Wes chatted with a fellow from Montreal who is currently working near Nigeria teaching Engineering in a gold mine there. The couple I chatted with were really interested in traveling in Canada and we had talked about different ideas of how he might be able to get a one year work visa to do that. Both he and his wife were very intelligent and both have post graduate degrees so it may not be too difficult.
After we finished wondering around the small island and took plenty of pictures we headed back to the boat so we could go around Volcano Island to a smaller island which had a small by where the ship would anchor and for those interested, they could swim over to the hot springs for a short swim there. The problem of course is that the hot springs were in shallow water so to get there you were swimming in the Aegean Sea for about 50 meters… very cold at this time of year. Several brave or fool hardy souls jumped into the water and did just that. However, no question about “warm water only Norm” going into that water and Wes was not prepared either (which surprised me a bit). As it turned out we were wise since one of the younger swimmers got in to the hot springs but they had to send in a row boat to help her return to the sailing ship. Everyone else was fine and so was she but it likely was too much cool water for her to handle. One fellow said that even in the hot springs area there were areas of really hot water and then suddenly you would hit the current and the water was really cold.
So we continued on around Volcano Island and back to Santorini Island and the enjoyable 300 meter climb to the townsite again. We headed over to the restaurant that we ate at yesterday and enjoyed. The employees there are so friendly and the food good so we really did not feel the need to go looking around. At the end of lunch for the second time we were given a shot of Sambuka complimentary which is reason enough to return.
We headed back to the hotel so I could get my driver’s license and head over to pick up a rental car. We got the car for 24 hours (actually 23 since tonight they switch to daylight savings) and Wes had a nap. I returned and laid down as well. It seems that we are tired these days but not sure why. Regardless we were up again at 5 so we could drive to Oia on the western tip of the island to watch the sunset. This is a must do when here on the island. We came across an old windmill, several beautiful buildings and some ‘traditional residences’ (ruins in my opinion) but because of the cloud layer that arrived this afternoon no incredible sunsets. We did get some pictures of flowers and cats.
We drove the second road (yep there are two – an upper and a lower) back to our hotel and decided that we would stop at a store to pick up something for dinner rather than go out. Neither of us are really all that hungry and it is a lot cheaper even though we do not have a kitchen.
We have completed a quiet and restful evening but with the time jump know that morning will be hear soon. We have lots to do tomorrow before we leave on the 5 pm ferry for Crete.
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